IFFHS CONTINENTAL NEWS - UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Picture : Lamine Yamal has both scored and assisted in a Champions League game for the third time in his career.
Champions League statistics: league stage, round 8 (January 28)
Liverpool vs Qarabag 6-0
*Virgil van Dijk became the first central defender ever to assist 3 goals in a single Champions League game.
*Mohamed Salah made his 80th Champions League appearance for Liverpool, tying the club record set by Jamie Carragher.
*This is the third time Liverpool have scored 6+ goals at home in the Champions League, after:
8-0 vs Besiktas on 6 November 2007,
7-0 vs Spartak Moscow on 6 December 2017.
Barcelona vs Copenhagen 4-1
*Lamine Yamal has both scored and assisted in a Champions League game for the third time in his career; the joint-most by a teenager in the competition, along with Kylian Mbappé (3 times for Paris SG).
*Viktor Dadason has become the youngest ever (17 years 212 days) goal-scorer in major European competitions at Camp Nou, breaking Paolo Ferrario's record set in November 1959 for Milan (17-269).
*Marcus Rashford has scored the first Barcelona’s direct free kick in the Champions League since 1 May 2019 (Lionel Messi against Liverpool).
Arsenal vs Kairat 3-2
*Arsenal ended the league stage with 8 straight wins; Manchester City are the only English side with a longer winning run (10 games between May 2023 and March 2024) in European Cup/Champions League history.
*Gabriel Martinelli scored already 6 goals in this UCL season; only Thierry Henry (7 goals in 2001-02 and in 2002-03) has scored more for Arsenal in a single Champions League campaign.
Benfica vs Real Madrid 4-2
*Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham is the first outfield player to make 50+ UCL starts before 23 years.
Atlético Madrid vs Bodo/Glimt 1-2
*Atlético, after 13 consecutive victories, suffered their first defeat at the Metropolitano this season.
Only once before, a Norwegian team have won a European Cup/Champions League matches in Spain: Rosenborg in 2007 (2-0 vs Valencia).
Borussia Dortmund vs Inter 0-2
*Inter (Federico Dimarco) have scored a direct free kick away from home in the Champions League for the first time since 6 April 2010 (Wesley Sneijder against CSKA Moscow).
Bayer Leverkusen vs Villarreal 3-0
*Villarreal have now the worst run by a Spanish team in the European Cup/Champions league: 11 games without a win.
Club Brugge vs Marseille 3-0
*Club Brugge recorded their first clean sheet in the Champions League for the first time since 21 January 2025, ending a run of 12 consecutive matches in which they conceded in the competition.
Paris St. Germain vs Newcastle 1-1
*PSG have failed to win any of their last 3 Champions League matches (2 draws, 1 defeat). This is their worst run in the competition since October-November 2024 (4 games).
Manchester City vs Galatasaray 2-0
*Erling Haaland has finally broken his run of 9 official matches for Manchester City in all competitions without goals from open play (his worst run for a club September 2017 - April 2018 when he failed to score in 13 consecutive games with Molde).
*The average age of Manchester City’s starting lineups this season (25 years 140 days) is their youngest in a single Champions League campaign; seven different players aged 22 or younger started in this UCL edition so far.
PSV Eindhoven vs Bayern 1-2
*Noah Fernandez became the third-youngest player (18 years and 19 days) for PSV in the Champions League, only behind Ismail Aissati in 2005 (17 years) and Johan Vonlanthen in 2003 (17-297).
Napoli vs Chelsea 2-3
*Chelsea have qualified for the knockout rounds in 19 of their last 20 Champions League campaigns, including each of the last nine.
*Napoli have failed to progress through the UCL group stage/league phase for the first time since 2018-19.
Athletic Bilbao vs Sporting Lisbon 2-3
*Oihan Sancet’s goal in 3rd minute is the earliest goal Athletic have scored in the Champions League.
It surpasses Etxeberria's goal (at 6 minutes) against Rosenborg on 16 September 1998.
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Tottenham 0-2
*Tottenham have kept more clean sheets than any other team in the 2025-26 UCL league phase (6).